


The time of the month

by reisana_devlin



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Cuddling, F/M, Fluff, that time of the month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-13
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-17 13:32:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3531137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reisana_devlin/pseuds/reisana_devlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elisha Trevelyan has an unwelcome visitor for the next week. It sucks being a woman, and on top of leading a sacrilegious movement, now she has to deal with her cycle? Cuddling and pampering ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The time of the month

Elisha stumbled as she made her way up the stairs. The pain in her lower back seared like a hot knife, and she cried out in agony as she felt something rend deep inside her lower belly. She collapsed on the stone stairs and rolled over onto her back, riding out the sharp spasms of pain that swelled.

The door opened at the bottom of the staircase, and Dagna poked her head through. She flung the door open when she realized the Inquisitor was sprawled across the stairs at the landing and hurried over, grabbing Elisha by her shoulders and hauling her into a seated position.

"Inquisitor!" the dwarf cried, "are you all right?"

"Yes," Elisha replied weakly. "Can you help me up the stairs?"

"Sure thing, Your Worship. I have a device you might like to try. I made it for the patrols who have to trudge through the snowy parts of Emprise du Lion, but it also has an added benefit for the recruits who get their assets handed to them after one of the Commander's training routines."

Elisha leaned heavily on Dagna and felt along the wall as they made their way up the stairs slowly. The ripples of pain radiated to her lower back and crushed any sentiment she had about being productive. She paused at the top of the landing and collapsed again as another spasm of pain brought her to her knees. Dagna bent down and gave her a big hug and hooked her hands under the Inquisitor's shoulders. Elisha nodded and stood up, wincing in pain. The arcanist hooked an arm and draped it over her shoulders and patted the Inquisitor's back, gently coaxing her forward.

"Come on, Your Worship," she murmured, "we have one more flight of stairs and then we can take care of you."

Dagna walked Elisha to her bed and helped her sit down. Elisha fell back into the down blankets and gasped as the pain continued to bloom. She heard the arcanist rummaging for extra towels and felt a tiny bundle flop onto her stomach. Elisha looked down and saw a bundle of gauze and a clean pair of smalls. She blushed, but sat up and tottered over to the small alcove out of sight, sighing as she stripped and changed, adding the bundle to the seat of her smalls. She checked the fit and walked out, tossing her soiled clothes into a wicker basket and slipping into a proffered pair of cotton tights. Dagna handed her some crushed bark and a glass of water. Elisha chewed on the bark and swallowed roughly, choking down some water to help wash down the bits that stubbornly stuck to her throat. She sighed as Dagna produced a small rectangular sheath of leather and laid it out on the bed next to her.

"This is a heating pad," the tiny arcanist explained, waving a hand over it. "You simply open the pouch, slip in a heated coal, seal it, and press it against the part of you that needs some warmth. It's warded on the inside so there's no worries about the coal burning through--I modified a couple runes to allow the heat to transfer through without getting burned."

Elisha nodded and watched as Dagna fed two small heated coals from the fireplace into the pouch. Dagna hurried over and motioned for the Inquisitor to lift her hips up, sliding the pouch under the small of her back. Elisha sank back down and sighed gratefully as the warmth from the pouch comforted the muscles in her back. The arcanist smiled and clapped her hands together, pleased with her work.

"You'll get about 4 hours of heat with coal, about 3 with heated stones. Just remember to use the tongs to get the stones or coal. Is there anything else you need?"

Elisha nodded and said, "Please tell Josephine I will not attend the other meetings and...and send for Cullen, whenever he's available. Thank you...for your help and this little contraption."

Dagna bowed and departed the room. Elisha sighed and tried bringing her knees up to her chest, but she relented and shifted. Before long, the bark worked its magic and her eyes fluttered shut.

***

Elisha woke with a start, rolling onto her side and curling up into a ball. She blinked her eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them. The sun had slanted through the glass panes on her balcony when she laid down, but now the skies outside were purple, pink, and orange. She winced as she tried to stretch out her lower back. Sighing, she propped herself up on her elbows and tried to sit the rest of the way up until she met resistance at her waist. She blinked again and looked down, noticing an arm was tugging her closer. She sighed as the hand rubbed her lower belly, warm and soothing.

Elisha turned her head and saw Cullen perk up, eyes lazy with sleep. She winced again as another lance of pain seared through her lower belly, and he held her tighter. She nestled into his embrace briefly before clearing her throat.

"I need to get up," she groaned.

He sighed and released his grip on her. Elisha shuddered as his hand withdrew from its task of rubbing comforting circles. She stood up and grimaced as she made her way over to a small table where the rest of the bark, some assorted herbs, a small fruit bowl, and tiny glass bottles lay. She picked up some more of the tree bark and popped the morsels into her mouth, reaching for a glass of water as she chewed. She swallowed, wincing at how tough the bark was, and picked up some berries from the tray and popped them into her mouth, washing it down with some water.

Cullen got up and joined her, pouring a glass of water for himself. He padded to the balcony and sipped thoughtfully, coming back inside as Elisha sat at the fireplace and hung a kettle to make some tea. She eyed the stack of oversized velvet pillows piled in the corner and began moving them closer to the fireplace. Once she had made a sizable and stable stack, she retrieved the heating pad Dagna gave her and pulled out the tongs. She put some stones in the fire and emptied out the coal dust into the small bin next to the fireplace. Once she felt the stones were sufficiently heated, she placed them in the sleeve, sealed it off, and tossed it onto her pile of pillows. She grabbed a gauze bundle and disappeared to replace the one in her smalls.

She returned a short while later and found Cullen had expanded the pile of pillows. He thumbed through the pages of a book and had brought over a small tray covered with sweet pastries and fruits. Elisha smiled and settled down on the pillows next to him, pausing to to adjust the wonderful heating pad against her back.

They took turns reading passages from Varric’s first installment of Hard in Hightown. Cullen made some tea and fed her from the laden tray of sweets. The spasms didn't bother her as much as they lay on the plush pillows, talking, laughing, and cuddling.

Later in the evening, the fire burned low and her eyelids drooped. He slid a bookmark and closed the book, then sat it down next to the now-lighter tray littered with fruit cores, pastry frosting crumbs, and empty tea cups. Cullen worked his hands on her back, warming her skin and rubbing comfort in with each circular pass. She began humming softly and leaned into his touch, grunting happily as the soothing sensation overtook the spasms of pain. 

"I think it's time for sleep," he murmured, planting a kiss on the side of her face before he stood and held his hands out to her.

Elisha nodded and sighed in resignation, grasping his hands and letting him pull her to her feet. He wrapped his arm around her waist and walked her to the bed, scooting in behind her and throwing the blankets over both of them. Before long, she was nestled into his side, snoring softly. He kissed the top of her head and drifted off in a dreamless sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Having PCOS, I felt the need to channel the pains of menses through my human mage Inquisitor and cuddling with the Noodle. Unbeta'd.


End file.
